Automatic damper for stovepipes.



G. S. WAYBRIGHT.

AUTOMATIG DAMPER FOR STOVBPIPES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, 1913.

Patented Oct. 6, 191 4.

@t autumn WITNESSES ATTORNEY O PHOTCFLITHQ, WASHINGTON. D, c

UNITED sTATEs PATENT ornic.

CHARLES S. WAYBRIGI-IT, OF STAUNTON, VIRGINIA.

AUTOMATIC DAMPER FOR STOVEPIPES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES S. WAY- BRIGHT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Staunton, in the county of Augusta and State ofVirginia, have invented a new and useful Automatic Damper forStovepipes, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in automatic dampers for stovepipes, chimneys, smoke stacks, and the like.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofautomatic dampers, and to provide a simple, efficient and inexpensivedamper adapted to be easily and quickly applied to a stove pipe, andcapable of automatically closing when the draft through the stove pipeis increased by the heat and products of combustion from a fire, wherebythe fire is controlled and a saving of fuel is efiected.

A further object of the invention is to provide an exceedingly sensitiveautomatic damper equipped with an adjustable weight, adapted topartially counterbalance the damper to render the same as sensitive asdesired, and capable of being arranged to maintain the damper either inan open or closed position and adapted also in the final movement of thedamper toward its closed position to assist the draft in producing apositive closing of the damper and also to cause the damper to remain inits closed position until there is a material decrease in the draftthrough the checking of the fire.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a damper having arelatively small closing movement and to arrange the same so that itwill not stick in its closed position through accumulation of soot, orbecome wedged in such position by the contraction of the stove pipeincident to the cooling thereof.

It is also the object of the invention to enable the damper to bepositively maintained in an open position by the counter balancingweight, so that a fire may be maintained to the desired degree withoutbeing affected by the checking action of the damper in its automaticoperation thereof.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and pointed out in the claimshereto appended; it being understood that Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed November 26, 1913.

Patented Oct. 6, 1914. Serial No. 803,300.

various changes in the form, proportion size and minor details ofconstruction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of theinvention.

In the drawing :Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automatic damper,constructed in accordance with this invention and shown applied to astove pipe, the latter being partly broken away and the damper beingshown in its open position. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View ofthe same, the damper being closed. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View,taken at right angles to Fig.

2, the damper being in its closed position. Fig. 4 is a horizontalsectional View, the damper being closed.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the 7 A drawing.

In the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated the preferredembodiment of the invention, 1 designates an oblong damper,

constructed of sheet metal and mounted, within a vertical stove pipe 2on a horizontal shaft 3, arranged eccentrically of the damper andextending across the same near the upper end 4 thereof, the dependingportion of the damper or that portion below the edge being approximatelyarcuate and formmg substantially a semi-clrcle and arrangedv concentricwith and spaced from the adja- The cent inner face of the stove pipewhen the damper is in 1ts closed posltlon, as clearly illustrated inFig. 4 of the drawing. The intermediate portion of the damper ispreferably provided with straight parallel side edges 6, which arespaced from the stove pipe and the lower portion 7 of the" damper istapered, the side edges 8 being curved as shown to arrange them inspaced relation wlth the inner face of the stove pipe.

the draft and be acted upon by the same.

The damper in closing swings from the slightly inclined position shownin Fig. 1

The lower portion 7 is also curved longitudinally to enable the damperto catch to the position illustrated in Fig. 2, the depending portion ofthe damper being carried in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1 untilthe lower end contacts with the opposite side of the stove pipe. Owingto the elongated or oblong damper and its inclination within the stovepipe, a comparatively small amount of movement carries it from its opento its closed position and there is no liability of the contacting lowerend of the damper sticking in the stove pipe either through anaccumulation of soot or by be--! coming wedged in the stove pipe whenthe latter contracts in cooling. In order to prevent any accumulation ofsoot at the place where thelower end of the damper strikes the stovepipe, the damper is provided at the said lower end with a notch 9,forming a draft opening at the inner face of the stove pipe when thedamper is. closed, so that the upward passage of air and products ofcombustion will blow away the soot and prevent any accumulation of thesame where the damper contacts with the stove pipe.

The shaft 3 is composed of straight side portions and a centraldownwardly extending bend 10 having converging sides and a straighttransverse connecting portion. The damper is provided. with central andside tongues 11 and 12, formed integral with the damper by partiallysevering the material thereof and engaging the shaft at the transverseportion of the bend and at the straight side portions of the shaft. Bythis construction, the shaft is adapted to be readily arranged inopposite perforations of a stove pipe from the exterior thereof by beingpassed through one of the perforations and extended through the oppositeperforation. After the shaft is placed in position with. the bendextending downwardly, the tongues of the damper may be readily engagedwith the bends and side portions of the shaft, which will hold thedamper against lateral. movement and at the same time lock the damper tothe shaft. The tongues are of a length to project downwardly beneath theshaft and may be readilv ent around the same to positively conline thedamper on the shaft.

One end of the shaft is extended upwardly at 13 and is bent to form anoutwardly extending approximately ti-shaped arm 14-, the upper side ofthe arm 1% being bent inwardly and extend ed beyond the vertical planeof the shaft to provide an inner arm 15. The outwardly extending arm 14;is provided in its lower side with a plurality of short bends 16,forming notches or recesses closed at the top by the upper side of thearm and adapted to be engaged by a hook 17 of the weight 5. The weight5, which partially counter-balances the damper, is adapted. to beadjusted inwardly or outwardly on the arm 14:, its counterbalancingeffect increasing as it is moved away from the shaft. The outer arm 14-is preferably of su'llicient length so that when the weight is placed inthe outer notch or recess, it will close the damper and maintain thesame in its closed position. By adjusting the weight in the othernotches, the damper may be made more or less sensitive to the draft toenable a tire of the desired character to be maintained. The upwardlybent portion 13 offsets the arm l t and the weight 5 from the shaft, andin the closing movement of the damper causes the weight to swing awayfrom the vertical plane of the shaft and increase the leverage forsecreting a positive closing movement.

The draft catching the lower curved por tion of the inclined dampertends to swing the same in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, andwhen it becomes suliiciently strong will move the same to its closed position. During this movement of the claim per the weight is carriedoutwardly from the position shown in Fig. l, as illustrated in Fig. andit assists the draft in producing a positive closing of the damper, andthe damper is maintained in its closed position until the draftmaterially decreases through the checking of the fire. The arm 15 hasits free end 18 upturned and is pro vidcd adjacent to the same with a.downward bend 19, forming a recess to receive the hook of the weight,which is adapted to be hung on the arm 15 for maintaining the damperurits open position while starting a fire and also when it is desired toprevent the autoi'natic operation of the damper.

hat is claimed is l. A device of the class described, including a shaftcomposed of straight side portions and an intermediate bend, said shaftbeing adapted to be passed through perforations of a stove pipe from theexterior thereof, and a substantially oblong damper of greater lengththan the diameter of a stove pipe, so as to occupy an inclined positiontherein when closed, and provided at its center with spaced side tonguesfor engaging the side portions of the shaft, and having an intermediatetongue for engaging the bend of the shaft, whereby the damper is lockedto the shaft and is held against relative lateral and rotary movement,said intermediate and side tongues forming downwardly extending hooks toenable them to be readily engaged with the shaft after the latter hasbeen passed through the opposite sides of a stove pipe.

2. A device of the class described, including a damper consisting of asubstaintially oblong plate having upper and lower portions arranged insubstantially the same plane, said damper being eccentrically pivoted atits upper portion and being of a length considerably greater than thediameter of a stove pipe, so as to occupy an inclined position thereinwhen closed, said damper being tapered at its lower portion to form acontacting lower end and having a substantially arcuate upper edgearranged in spaced relation with the stove pipe when the damper is inits closed position.

3. A device of the class described including a substantially oblongdamper eccentrically pivoted at its upper portion and being of a lengthconsiderably greater than the diameter of a stove pipe so as to 00- cupyan inclined position therein when closed, said damper being tapered atthe lower portion to form a contacting lower end and provided thereatwith a notch adapted to form a draft opening for blowing away the sootand for preventing an accumulation of the same on the stove pipe at theplace of contact with the damper.

at. A device of the class described including an oblong damper ofconsiderably greater length than the diameter of a pipe so as to occupyan inclined position therein when closed, said damper beingeccentrically pivoted at its upped portion and having its lower portionbowed or curved longitudinally and presenting a concave face to thedraft to enable it to catch the same.

5. A device of the class described including a. damper, a shafteccentrically pivoting the damper and bent outwardly at one end into asubstantially U-shaped arm, the latter having one of its sides extendedinwardly beyond the vertical plane of the shaft to form an inner arm,the other side of the outwardly extending arm being provided with aplurality of notches or recesses, and a weight having means for engagingthe said notches or recesses and adapted also to be arranged on theinner arm.

6. A device of the class described including a damper, a shafteccentrically pivoting the damper and bent outwardly at one end into asubstantially U-shaped arm, the latter having one of its sides extendedinwardly beyond the vertical plane of the shaft to form an inner arm,the latter having an upturned terminal and provided adjacent to the samewith a bend, and a weight having means for adjustably engaging theoutwardly extending arm and for detachably engaging the said bend of theinner arm.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES S. WVAYBRIGHT.

Witnesses:

JOHN H. Sreenns, DAVID R. WAGNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

